Recoil-check for guns.



No. 69|,9l3. "Patented Jan. 28, I902.

S. N. McCLEAN.

RECOIL CHECK FDR GUNS. I

A lication filed May 15 1900.)

(No Model.)

INVENTO WITNESSES UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL N. MOOLEAN, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

RECOlL-CHECK FOR GUNS.

. SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 691,913, datedJanuary 28, 1902.

Application filed May 15, 1900.

To aZZ whom itmaty concern.-

- a resident of Cleveland, Ohio, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Recoil- Ohecks for Guns, which invention is fully setforth in the following specification.

Myinvention relates to guns, and more particularly to means forcontrolling the recoil and jumping action of the gunand mount under theshock of discharge. Heretofore in certain classes of gun-mounts, ofwhich a field gun carriage may be taken as an example, resistance to therecoil has been applied at a point below and to the rear of the gun,with the result that the gun has had a tendency to turn about said pointof resistance in a vertical plane, thereby suddenly elevating the muzzleof the gun or causingit to jump. Thus in field-carriages the lowerend ofthe tailpiece has been provided with a spade, which by reason of itsengagement with the ground tended to resist the recoil of the gun andcarriage; but under the shock of discharge this spade would frequentlyfail to hold the gun against recoil, while still offering resistanceenough to causea jump of the gun, which forbade accurate gunnery.Unsuccessful efiorts have been made to overcome these defects byprovidinga spade to enter the ground centrally between the wheels of thecarriage and pivoting the gun on a vertical pivot secured to the spade,while the tailpiece is attached to the spade by'a chain.

The object of the present invention is to provide means whereby therearward recoil of the gun shall be resisted in such a manner that thestrain due to the recoil shall act in a line substantially parallel withthe axis of the gun and snugly and firmly hold the gun down in batteryposition.

With this object in view the invention consists in means placed belowthe gun and mount (and supporting the weight thereof) and engaging theground or gun-platform and a connection between the said means and themount, said connection serving to transmit the force of recoil to saidmeans.

More specifically stated, the invention consists in a shoe or shoeshaving a spade attached thereto, whereby engagement between the shoeandthe ground orgun-platform is se- Serial No. 16,793. (No model.)

cured, a gun-mount restingin and supported by said shoe or shoes, andsuitable connections between the said mount and the shoe or shoes fortransmitting the strain of recoil to said shoes. Where the shoes aredesigned for field-carriages, they are preferably provided with sideflanges so arranged that when the wheels of the carriage are restingbetween said flanges the carriage may be given the turning movementsinvolved in training the gun without removing the wheels from the shoesor changing the position of the latter. The connection between the shoesand the carriage is in the form of a chain, rod, or hawser attached tothe shoes and connected to the tailpiece, preferably with aspring-section introduced therein.

The inventive idea involved may receive various mechanical expressions,one of which I have illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure 1 is a front elevation of a gun-carriage, in position on theshoes, whose spades are shown inserted into the ground. Fig. 2 is asideelevation of Fig. 1 with one of the wheels removed, and Fig. 3 is a planview of one of the shoes. Fig. 4 is a plan, and Fig. 5 a side elevation,of a modified form of shoe,

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents a gun preferably provided with agas-currentcontrolling attachment 2 of my invention, which controls orneutralizes any required portion of the'recoil and to which the devicesherein described are auxiliary. The shoe 3 is in the form of an extendedplate 4, prefer-.

ably having upwardly-projecting side flanges 5 5, whose inner faces areformed on reversed curves, while a spade 6 projects downward from thelower face of the plate 4, preferably with a rearward inclination offrom twentyfive degrees to forty-five degreesfrom the perpendicular, asshown in Fig. 2. For the purpose of resisting side strains the shoe ispreferably provided with an oblique spade 15, as shown in side elevationin Fig. 2 and in dotted lines in Fig. 3. Each of the shoes is connectedto the tailpiece or trail 7 of the carriage, the connections from theseparate shoes being wholly independent of each other, or, as shown inFigs. 1 and 2, consisting of a chain or like device 8, extending fromone shoe rearward to a pulley 9 on the trail or tailpiece 7 and aroundsaid pulley to the other shoe. In most cases it is found desirable tointerpose an elastic link or member between the shoe and the gun-mount,and this may be accomplished either by means of a springsection 10 inthe chain 8 or by mounting the pulley 9 yieldingly between the plates ofthe tailpiece. The point where the chain 8*or the pulley 9 is secured tothe trail is usually about one-half the distance from the axle of thegun-carriage to the extremity of the trail, though it may, if desired,be fixed slightly nearer the said extremity than the axle, as shown inFig. 2. As usually employed, a shoe is placed under each wheel of a gunor carriage, whose weight thereby serves to hold the spades firmly inthe ground, and when thus firmly retained the two spades offersufficient resistance to the recoil to effectually control the same. Insome cases, however, I connect the two shoes by a cross-bar 11,extending near the surface of the ground between the shoes, and attachadditional spades 12 12 thereto, thereby obtaining an exceedingly firmanchorage. For the purpose of supporting the shoes on the carriageduring travel a pin or hook 13 is provided on each side of the trail,and on these the shoes are hung by means of a hole or perforation 14,formed for this purpose in one of the flanges 5.

I The operation of the device is as follows: The shoe-spades having beendriven into the ground and the wheels of the carriage placed on theshoes, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the gun is fired, and such portion ofthe recoil as it is not deemed desirable to counteract or neutralize bymeans of the gas-current-controlling device 2 is transmitted through thechain 8 to the spades, which are held firmly in position in the groundby the Weight of the gun and carriage. The tendency of the force ofrecoil is to move the carriage directly rearward, and this tendency isresisted by the spades, whose line of resistance is practically parallelwith the surface of the ground. The gun now has little or no tendency tojump, since the strain due to the recoil is applied in a directiontending to hold the gun firmly down on the ground rather than elevate orlift it.

In Figs. 4 and 5 I have shown a modified form of shoein which the sideflanges are composed of a series of short sharp-pointedrearwardly-inclined teeth 16, and the spade corresponding to spade 6 ofFigs. 1 and 2 is bifurcated, the two sections 17 17 (see dotted lines,Fig. 4) being spaced or separated. Should the ground be of such acharacter that the spade-sections 17 17 could not be inserted therein,the shoe could be reversed and the short sharp teeth 16 would take holdwhere the spade would not. In this case the wheels would rest betweenthe sections 17 17 of the reversed shoe.

Having thus described my invention, I claim-- 1. The combination of apair of shoes arranged on opposite sides of the gun and provided withspades, the carriage resting upon and supported by the shoes, and aconnection between the shoes and carriage.

2. The combination of a pair of shoes arranged on opposite sides of thegun and provided with means for engaging the earth or gun-platform, witha gun-carriage resting upon said shoes and means connecting the shoes tothe carriage at a point to the rear of the shoes.

3. The combination with a pair of shoes arranged on opposite sides ofthe gun and provided with means for engaging the earth or gun-platform,with a gun-carriage resting upon said shoes, and elastic connectionsbetween said shoes and the gun-carriage.

4. The combination with a pair of shoes arranged on opposite sides ofthe gun and provided with means for engaging the earth or gun-platform,of a gun-carriage resting upon said shoes, and a connection between saidshoes and extending around a bearing on the gun-carriage to the rear ofthe shoes.

5. The combination of a pair of shoes ar-' ranged on opposite sides ofthe gun and provided with means engaging the ground or gunplatform, witha carriage resting upon said shoes and means holding the carriage incon= tact with the shoes when the gun is fired.

6. The combination of a pair of shoes pro vided with means engaging theground or gunplatform, and a carriage resting upon said shoes, a pulleyon the trail of the carriage,- and a flexible connection between theshoes and passing around the pulley.

7. The combination of a pair of shoes ar-' ranged on opposite sides ofthe gun and pro,- vided with means engaging the ground or gun platform,a carriage resting on said shoes and a rigid connection between saidshoes, said connection being also provided with means engaging theground or gun-platform.

8.- In a device of the character described, a shoe composed of a platehaving a downward projection to engage the ground or gun-plat form andupwardly-projecting side flanges.

9. In a device of the character described, a shoe comprising a platehaving a spade extending transversely across the same and a spadearranged obliquely to said transverse spade.

10. In a device of the character described, a shoe havingupwardly-projecting side flanges with reversely-curved interior faces.

11. The combination of a pair of shoes having downwardly-projectingspades and 11pwardly-projecting side flanges, with a guncarriage havingits wheels resting on said shoes anda connection extending from eachshoe to the trail of the carriage and attached to said trail at or belowthe longitudinal center thereof.

12. The combination of a pair of shoes having downwardly-projectingtransverse and oblique spades and upwardly-projectin g side flanges withreversely-curved interior faces, In testimony whereof I have signed thiswith a gun-carriage whose wheels rest in said specification in thepresence of two subscribshoes between said flanges, a. pulley on theingwitnesses.

trail of the carriage at or below the longitudi- SAMUEL N. MOCLEAN. 5nal center thereof, and a connection extend- Witnesses:

ing between the shoes and passing over the S. T. CAMERON,

pulley. WM. B. KERKAM.

